ABUSIR , Egypt -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Today , I met Cleopatra 's lawyer . Well , not her lawyer but someone who is determined to defend the legendary queen against centuries of bad publicity .

Kathleen Martinez , an archaeologist from the Dominican Republic , wants to mend Cleopatra 's tattered reputation .

Kathleen Martinez is a young archaeologist from the Dominican Republic who has toiled for three years on a barren hillside overlooking the coastal highway linking Alexandria with the Libyan border . According to the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities , it 's here , at a spot known as Abusir , that the tomb of Marc Antony and Cleopatra might be located .

I met Martinez in a dusty tomb full of bones at the excavation site . She recounted to me that , as a young girl , she listened in on a scholarly discussion in her father 's library about Cleopatra .

`` They were speaking very badly about her and about her image , '' she recalled . `` I got very upset . I said I did n't believe what they are saying , that I needed to study more about her . ''

Martinez went on to earn a law degree but continued to be fascinated by the saga of Cleopatra . Four years ago , she managed to convince Zahi Hawass , the untiring director of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities , to allow her to start excavating at Abusir .

Her fascination with -- and admiration for -- Cleopatra is intense . The last queen of Ancient Egypt , she told me , `` spoke nine languages , she was a philosopher , she was a poet , she was a politician , she was a goddess , and she was a warrior . ''

In short , Martinez believes , Cleopatra was a woman way ahead of her times .

And given that history is written by the victors -- in Cleopatra 's case , the Romans -- her press was somewhat less than complimentary . It was `` bad propaganda , '' in Martinez 's words . For that reason , she told me , `` I want to be Cleopatra 's lawyer . ''

With Hawass , Martinez is now working on a book about Cleopatra to repair all that damage .

The tale of Antony and Cleopatra has fueled the popular imagination for centuries . Ill-fated lovers were a favorite theme for William Shakespeare , and the Roman noble and the Egyptian queen certainly fit the bill .

Marc Antony was a no less fascinating character than Cleopatra . In his youth , he led a life of heavy drinking and womanizing . According to the Roman historian Plutarch , Antony accumulated debts of 250 talents , the equivalent of $ 5 million , before reaching 20 .

To escape his creditors in Rome , he fled to Greece , where he studied with the philosophers of Athens , before being called to join the Roman legions in the east , then serving under Julius Caesar .

After Caesar 's assassination , Marc Antony became embroiled in a series of power struggles and eventually ended up in Egypt .

Egypt was the enemy of his former ally , Octavian , who would go on to become the Emperor Augustus , the first emperor of Rome .

Octavian defeated Antony 's forces at the battle of Actium in 30 B.C. Shortly afterward , Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide , he by his own sword , she by a poisonous asp .

Octavian , according to Plutarch , allowed them to be buried together `` in splendid and regal fashion . '' But no one knows where .

The sudden focus on Antony and Cleopatra has also reignited an old debate over the latter 's looks . Was Cleopatra a stunning beauty a la Elizabeth Taylor , or somewhat less spectacular ?

Researchers from Newcastle University in England claimed in 2007 that , based upon coins found from the period , she was quite homely , with `` a shallow forehead , long , pointed nose , narrow lips and a sharply pointed chin . '' See gallery of tomb that might be Cleopatra 's ''

The same researchers did n't have a very flattering assessment of Marc Antony either , saying he had `` bulging eyes , a large hooked nose and a thick neck . '' No Richard Burton .

This does contradict Plutarch 's description of Marc Antony as having `` a noble dignity of form ; and a shapely beard , a broad forehead , and an aquiline nose -LSB- that -RSB- were thought to show the virile qualities peculiar to the portraits and statues of Hercules '' ?

Hawass has n't had much to say in defense of Marc Antony , but he claims the coins found in Abusir show Cleopatra was `` beautiful . ''

At Abusir , he showed me one of the coins with Cleopatra 's likeness . `` The only thing you can see here is her nose is a bit big . ''

That 's because , Hawass insisted , `` when you draw a face on a coin you can not draw the beauty of a queen , and therefore I think that the lady who captured the hearts of Julius Caesar and Marc Antony can not have been ugly . ''

Egyptians , who are intensely proud of their country and its ancient heritage , may be forgiven for their insistence on this point .

I tend to take the middle ground on this one . Beauty is more than skin deep , and what seems to have captivated Julius Caesar and Marc Antony was not physical but rather inner beauty . Watch report from CNN 's Ben Wedeman on Cleopatra ''

Plutarch wrote in his `` Life of Antony '' that `` for her beauty was in itself not altogether incomparable , nor such as to strike those who saw her . '' In other words , she was plain . Plutarch goes on to write , however , that she was intelligent , charming and has `` sweetness in the tones of her voice . ''

The mystery of what Cleopatra really looked like may never be solved . In any event , it 's just one of many mysteries in Egypt .

Others include the obvious ones : How were the pyramids built ? Who built them ? Why were they built ? How old is the Sphinx ?

Hawass dismisses with lusty contempt the people who espouse the more fantastic theories -LRB- that aliens built the pyramids , that the Sphinx is more than 10,000 years old -RRB- , labeling them `` pyramidiots . ''

But there are other historical mysteries out there that have yet to be answered .

Some archaeologists are trying to find the tomb of Alexander the Great -LRB- who died in Babylon but , according to some ancient historians , was buried in Egypt -RRB- .

Others are searching for the remains of the lost army of Cambyses -- 50,000 soldiers dispatched on a mission by the Persian Emperor to attack the Oracle of Amon -LRB- today 's Siwa Oasis in western Egypt -RRB- only to disappear during a sandstorm in the Sahara Desert .

There has been plenty of excitement in the past few days over reports that Martinez and her team are about to find the long-lost tomb of Antony and Cleopatra .

Alas , the enthusiasts are going to have to be patient .

The summer residence of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is just down the road from the site . For security reasons , no one is allowed on the hillside where the excavations are taking place from May through November . So unless Mubarak decides to overrule his security detail , the solving of this mystery will have to be put on hold for at least another five months .

We 've waited 2,000 years . I guess we can wait a few more months .

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Kathleen Martinez has toiled for three years in Egypt looking for Cleopatra 's tomb

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Martinez says the Egyptian queen has gotten an unfair reputation over the centuries

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Cleopatra spoke nine languages and was a philosopher and poet , Martinez says

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So was Marc Antony 's lover beautiful or plain or ugly ? That debate rages on